1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to cutting blade assemblies for hydraulic food cutting apparatus. More particularly it relates to a cutter blade assembly which defines a core area and a peripheral scrap area wherein the core area of the food product is cut into a recognizable decorative form.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many food products, and particularly vegetables and fruits are processed prior to sale either by canning or freezing. Unless the product involved is of a naturally occurring edible size, for example peas, the product is usually trimmed and sliced, or diced, to edible size prior to preservation processing such as canning or freezing.
These slicing, dicing and other cutting operations have traditionally been accomplished with mechanical cutters. However, relatively recent advances in food product cutting technologies has resulted in the common use of hydraulic cutting apparatus which can be used to cut relatively huge quantities of food product at very high speeds. Cutting capacities of 30,000 pounds to 50,000 pounds per hour are not unusual.
F.G. LAMB, ET AL., U.S. Pat. No. 3,109,468 discloses a typical hydraulic cutting apparatus wherein the food product to be cut, namely potatoes, are dropped into a tank filled with water and the pumped through conduit into an alignment chute wherein the potatoes are aligned and accelerated to high speed before impinging upon a cutter blade assembly where the potato core is cut into a plurality of french files and the peripheral area of the potato is sliced off and diverted from the main flow of core product for later retrieval for other uses.
Hydraulic cutting apparatus, or as they are known in the trade, hydroknives, can be utilized to cut extremely high volumes of product if the food product can be properly aligned and accelerated to high speed immediately prior to impact with the cutter blade assembly. Initial development areas in the art were focused upon various apparatus and methods for properly aligning the food product. HODGES, ET AL., U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,024, discloses a typical hydroknife cutting apparatus. WINSLOW, U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,652, HENNEUSE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,491 and my patent MENDENHALL, U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,141, all disclose various apparatus for improving the alignment and acceleration of the food product prior to impact with the cutter blade assembly.
Other areas wherein improvements have been made specifically relate to particular food products. More specifically, BROWN, ET AL., U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,429, discloses a cutter blade assembly which cuts french fry strips of varying cross sectional area so as to compensate for the nonuniform solids content between the center of the potato and the peripheral areas so that the end product french fries will cook at a uniform rate. FISHER, ET AL., U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,184, discloses a cutter blade assembly for use in coring a potato.
Quite obviously there are a variety of applications for hydraulic cutter knives other than just for potatoes. Some of these would include beets, pickles, carrots, apples, pineapples and literally a host of other edible food products.
However none of the prior art discloses or teaches a method of utilizing a hydroknife apparatus for cutting the core of the product into a decorative form so as to enhance the marketing value of the processed food product, such as fish-shaped french fries for fast food seafood restaurants. Or, to enhance the edible appeal of the product in relationship to a particular market group such as alphabet french fries for small children.
Decorative cut food products have been developed and successfully marketed for many years. However, as a universal rule, they are formed products as opposed to directly cut from food product in original cellular form. Examples include cookie and pasta dough which is then either extruded and then cross sliced or sheet cut by cookie cutter type apparatus. The direct cutting of a decorative shape of a product core, which can then be cross sliced has not been attempted before.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to produce a cutter blade assembly which can be utilized in a hydraulic cutting apparatus to cut the core of food product passing through the cutter blade assembly into a decorative, recognizable shape.